The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem Ynglingatal. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse Skilfingar) in Beowulf. When Beowulf and Ynglingatal were composed sometime in the eighth to tenth centuries, the respective scop and skald (poet) expected his audience to have a great deal of background information about these kings, which is shown in the allusiveness of the references.
According to sources such as Ynglingatal and Íslendingabók, the Fairhair dynasty in Oppland, Norway was in fact a branch of the Ynglings (here Yngling is explicitly used as the name of the dynasty). Saxo Grammaticus held that Eric the Victorious, whom modern regnal lists usually begin with, and his descendants were also Ynglings, but this does not tally with Icelandic sources.
The dynasty claimed descent from the gods Freyr and Njörðr, and other kings were likely mythical as well, whereas others may have been real: especially Egil, Ottar, Ale and Adils that are mentioned in Beowulf as well as Nordic sources.
